Creating Healthy Nutrition Environments

Abstract

The home nutrition environment and the consumer nutrition environment present two important settings for addressing the high prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adults. They provide the broader context for the three papers that constitute this dissertation. Chapters 1 and 2 are situated within the home nutrition environment and further our understanding of the role that fathers play in child feeding. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 40 fathers and qualitative methods were used to organize and analyze the data. Both papers draw from the same data set. Chapter 1 identified the strategies used by fathers to feed their children or, their food parenting practices. Thematic analysis was conducted to identify 13 responsive practices and 7 unresponsive practices. Differential use of food parenting practices was found by fathers’ education and residential status. Chapter 2 examined how fathers and mothers co-parent around responsibilities for child feeding tasks and FPPs used. Sixty two percent of the fathers used a variety of approaches to manage planning, procuring and preparing food along with the mother. Co-operative FPPs around structuring, monitoring and organizing the child’s meals were reported by 46% of fathers. Forty percent reported instances of conflicting FPPs regarding access to energy-dense, nutrient-poor snacks and introducing variety in the diet. Dissimilarities in practices were driven by differences in parental eating habits, feeding philosophies and concern for child health. They resulted in the practices of one parent being undermined and in child tantrums or refusal to eat. Chapter 3 is based within the consumer nutrition environment. The goal of this randomized, controlled, experimental study was to test the influence of different formats for displaying added sugars on consumer understanding, perceptions, and purchase intentions. Amazon’s Mechanical Turk was used to recruit 2,509 U.S adults. Participants were randomized to one of eight display formats and responded to a quiz that assessed study outcomes. Displaying added sugars in relative formats (grams accompanied by high/medium/low text, % DV, or the combination of the two) led to the most accurate understanding of added sugars content and judgments about product healthfulness. None of the eight display formats impacted purchase intentions.